Dr. Jamil Zaki

So there's a little bit of data on this and it suggests a couple of things. One, left to our own devices, our levels of cynicism tend to be pretty stable over time. And also decline in older adulthood, contra the stereotype of the curmudgeonly older person. But another is that cynicism does tend to be pretty domain general.

So, for instance, cynics – and this makes sense if you look at questionnaires that assess cynicism, which are things like people are honest chiefly through fear of getting caught. or most people really don't like helping each other. I mean, if you're answering those questions positively, you're just not a fan of, you're probably not great at parties, you're not a fan of people.

So, for instance, cynics – and this makes sense if you look at questionnaires that assess cynicism, which are things like people are honest chiefly through fear of getting caught. or most people really don't like helping each other. I mean, if you're answering those questions positively, you're just not a fan of, you're probably not great at parties, you're not a fan of people.

So, for instance, cynics – and this makes sense if you look at questionnaires that assess cynicism, which are things like people are honest chiefly through fear of getting caught. or most people really don't like helping each other. I mean, if you're answering those questions positively, you're just not a fan of, you're probably not great at parties, you're not a fan of people.

And it turns out that people who answer those, this is an old scale developed by a couple of psychologists named Walter Cook and Donald Medley in the 1950s. If you answer the Cook-Medley hostility scale, if you answer these questions positively, you tend to be less trusting of strangers. But you also tend to, for instance, have less trust in your romantic partnerships.

And it turns out that people who answer those, this is an old scale developed by a couple of psychologists named Walter Cook and Donald Medley in the 1950s. If you answer the Cook-Medley hostility scale, if you answer these questions positively, you tend to be less trusting of strangers. But you also tend to, for instance, have less trust in your romantic partnerships.

And it turns out that people who answer those, this is an old scale developed by a couple of psychologists named Walter Cook and Donald Medley in the 1950s. If you answer the Cook-Medley hostility scale, if you answer these questions positively, you tend to be less trusting of strangers. But you also tend to, for instance, have less trust in your romantic partnerships.

You have less trust in your friends. And you have less trust in your colleagues. So this is sort of an all-purpose view of the world, at least as Cook and Medley first thought about it. But I do want to build on a great intuition you have, which is that different environments might bring out cynicism or tamp it down. And it turns out that that's also very true.

You have less trust in your friends. And you have less trust in your colleagues. So this is sort of an all-purpose view of the world, at least as Cook and Medley first thought about it. But I do want to build on a great intuition you have, which is that different environments might bring out cynicism or tamp it down. And it turns out that that's also very true.

You have less trust in your friends. And you have less trust in your colleagues. So this is sort of an all-purpose view of the world, at least as Cook and Medley first thought about it. But I do want to build on a great intuition you have, which is that different environments might bring out cynicism or tamp it down. And it turns out that that's also very true.

As trait-like as cynicism can be, there's lots of evidence that the type of social environment we're in matters a lot. One of my favorite studies in this domain came from Southeastern Brazil. There are two fishing villages in southeastern Brazil. They're separated by about 30, 40 miles. They're similar in socioeconomic status, religion, culture, but there's one big difference between them.

As trait-like as cynicism can be, there's lots of evidence that the type of social environment we're in matters a lot. One of my favorite studies in this domain came from Southeastern Brazil. There are two fishing villages in southeastern Brazil. They're separated by about 30, 40 miles. They're similar in socioeconomic status, religion, culture, but there's one big difference between them.

As trait-like as cynicism can be, there's lots of evidence that the type of social environment we're in matters a lot. One of my favorite studies in this domain came from Southeastern Brazil. There are two fishing villages in southeastern Brazil. They're separated by about 30, 40 miles. They're similar in socioeconomic status, religion, culture, but there's one big difference between them.

One of the villages sits on the ocean, and in order to fish on the ocean, you need big boats, heavy equipment. You can't do it alone. You must work together. The other village is on a lake where fishermen strike out on small boats alone, and they compete with one another.

One of the villages sits on the ocean, and in order to fish on the ocean, you need big boats, heavy equipment. You can't do it alone. You must work together. The other village is on a lake where fishermen strike out on small boats alone, and they compete with one another.

One of the villages sits on the ocean, and in order to fish on the ocean, you need big boats, heavy equipment. You can't do it alone. You must work together. The other village is on a lake where fishermen strike out on small boats alone, and they compete with one another.

About 10 years ago, economists, this was a study led by Andreas Liebrand, a really great economist, they went to these villages and they gave the folks who worked there a bunch of social games to play. These were not with fellow fishermen, but with strangers. Games like, would you trust somebody with some money and see if they then want to share dividends with you? Or give in some money yourself.

About 10 years ago, economists, this was a study led by Andreas Liebrand, a really great economist, they went to these villages and they gave the folks who worked there a bunch of social games to play. These were not with fellow fishermen, but with strangers. Games like, would you trust somebody with some money and see if they then want to share dividends with you? Or give in some money yourself.

About 10 years ago, economists, this was a study led by Andreas Liebrand, a really great economist, they went to these villages and they gave the folks who worked there a bunch of social games to play. These were not with fellow fishermen, but with strangers. Games like, would you trust somebody with some money and see if they then want to share dividends with you? Or give in some money yourself.

Would you like to share some of it with another person? And they found that when they start in their careers, lake fishermen and ocean fishermen were equally trusting and equally trustworthy as well. but over the course of their careers, they diverged. Being in a collaborative environment where people must count on one another to survive made people over time more trusting and more trustworthy.